Ensnared
by Jitenon
Summary: Takes place on the Space Colony ARK. Shadow is to battle a creature for further research and observation of his combat skills and his power over chaos, what happens when it goes unexpectedly wrong? Contains sexual contact with tentacles, and a deep friendship between Shadow and Maria.


"Project Shadow! Report to my laboratories for testing!" Gerald Robotnik's voice boomed from the ARK's communication system speakers. "Ugh... He probably wants me to balance a refrigerator on my head or something ridiculous." A dark hedgehog with blood coloured streaks adorning his body moaned, rolling over on his little hedgehog-sized bed. It was only around 6:30 in the morning; there was no way he was getting up, Gerald can send other workers to retrieve Shadow and drag him there for all he cared. Not the first time it's had to happen. Across the room from him, in a larger bed, a young girl with fair hair giggled. "Not funny Maria, even you agree! The shit that Gerald puts me through makes it seem as if he's bored or something. It's getting ridiculous." The hedgehog tugged his fuzzy blanket and sheets over his head and began to brood, earning another laugh from Maria, who had gotten up and had begun to approach him. "Language please! I'll walk there with you, now get up from under the covers you lazy bum! Grandpa's gonna be mad again, and he'll make you balance two refrigerators on your head instead!" At her foolish assumption, Shadow tightened the sheets around himself and began howling with laughter, Maria joining in as she began tugging uselessly at the blankets. "SHADOW. NOW! Maria, I know you're distracting him!" Too late, his temper was on a short leash today. The former peeped his head out of his covers and they gave each other sheepish looks, heading over to the labs.

"Good grief boy, try not to look too awake." Gerald sent him a sardonic expression, taking in Shadow's ruffled quills and purposely slouchy posture. Who could blame him? He had just been informed that he was to engage in battle with some sort of creature they had shipped to the ARK so they could further observe his combat skills as well as the extent of his power over chaos. Maybe if he pulled off a good enough grouch look he'd be let off the hook. Regardless, he would be able to destroy whatever this thing is in a matter of minutes.

Maria wished him luck along with a kiss to his forehead and left, as she had chores she was intent on starting. Shadow walked into the enormous room meant specifically for this type of testing. The room was mostly all white save for the intensely reinforced windows where dozens of scientists would be eagerly observing, and a small bare wooden table with a matching chair near the windows which Gerald would sometimes occupy, depending on the test. In the corner of the room was a large metallic containment crate with warnings boldly etched in red across it. Conventionally, strange sounds emanated from it. The red striped hedgehog however did not recognize the noises and was particularly curious of the viscous substance oozing out of it. "That can't be saliva from a mutant mutt or something right? There is a lot of it..." he pondered to himself. Once again Gerald's voice sounded from above, "Alright now Shadow, let's begin. Fight however you'd like; this will be new for you as you've never encountered this type of creature."

The door he'd entered through slammed shut along with multiple powerful metal barricades. The crate immediately opened, and what Shadow considered the ugliest and most revolting abomination emerged, immediately shooting forward its disgusting slimy tentacles. The ebony hedgehog flipped backwards in surprise, narrowly missing the disgusting touch of one. This continued for a little bit as it seemed the monster had no knack for tactics, and Shadow decided to push forward from defense to offense. He launched a chaos spear towards its body, making it recoil and growl. That angered the creature, and in turn it shot its tentacles in several different directions. In the limited space of the room, Shadow was suddenly cornered. Two tentacles wrapped around each of his limbs and pulled him forward from the corner while three were coiled around his torso, and he struggled with anger, surprise and growing fear. The tentacles began dragging the riled up hedgehog, and as he neared the table, he attached himself to it out of instinct as he knew it was bolted down.

Shadow grit his teeth with annoyance, his limbs were being tugged at mercilessly. He let out a series of pitiful cries of pain, unable to think of a way to gain the upper hand. Then, to his absolute confusion, a single tentacle gently snaked itself around his tail and lifted it up. Another one emerged, this time making contact with the area below which he would rather have left alone. His sense and intuition could be described as impeccable, expected of the Ultimate Lifeform, but he couldn't have been expected to be prepared for something he had never been exposed to or given any knowledge of. The poor confused hedgehog's face contorted into something akin to anticipation and fear as his pupils contracted.

The tentacle's ministrations around the sensitive area of his backside left behind a coat of thick substance, making the dark hedgehog feel uneasy as he noticed it dripping onto the floor. He moved his gaze towards the windows which by then were swarmed by dozens and dozens of scientists in a frenzy, gawking at the sight. He quickly tore his stare away with embarrassment and shame; he could feel a heavy blush on his face, not at all comfortable being watched in such a strange situation.

Shadow mistakenly assumed that because he could no longer feel the tentacle prodding at the entrance of his backside, that it was finished with its assault there. Therefore his eyes widened drastically and his expression was of absolute agony and disbelief as the tentacle went ahead and plunged itself deep inside him. "AH! MMMH!" He cried out and his hands gripped the table with more force. He was ashamed of the way the noises came out of his mouth. They sounded so... sultry, and generally unlike him. He was completely unfamiliar with such a term being applied to himself. _'Did I really just make those sounds?! Great, this is incredibly embarrassing; those damn scientists can hear and see everything too!'_ He lowered his head, wishing that he was back in his bed, under the warm blankets. Was this supposed to happen to him today? He did not know what this all was, and he didn't like that fact one bit.

The appendage began to sheath itself further inside the red striped hedgehog, and he winced, trying to prevent those embarrassing sounds from escaping his lips again. He lowered his head even more and gripped the desk with more force, clenching every muscle in his body out of stress and anxiety. He completely lost himself; there he stood, completely humiliated with tentacles wrapped around his limbs, body and tail, hands latched onto the wooden desk in a death grip, and an exceptionally large tentacle shoved into his posterior. Was Gerald trying to punish him for something? Was the whole "combat observation" just a joke? He didn't even realize that tears were streaming down his face and onto the floor, or the sudden voice blaring over the room's intercom laced with panic and incredulity.

"...ow!...adow!...Shadow! Are you listening?! You must relax! You need to relax the muscles tensed up in your body!" Gerald was perplexed; this was not supposed to happen. What kind of creature did he bring onto the ARK? He had heard nothing of this sort of behaviour coming from this sort of monster, and he is definitely one to do his research thoroughly.

Shadow then realized that the intrusion in his rear end was creating a tugging motion, as if it was attempting to remove it... But it was only pulling the black hedgehog himself, making him grip the desk even more desperately. Now what was going on? Regardless of what it was trying to do, there was no way he was letting the tentacle slide any further inside his body; it was painful enough as it was. The tugging became more exorbitant, and it was starting to feel strange. Suddenly, it was as if the dam he had built around his vocal chords preventing the strange moans and cries was demolished. "Ah, ahn, ah-AH!" His head snapped upward and his eyes widened in sync with his mouth opening; he would have slapped a hand over his mouth if both of them weren't still ensnared by constricting tentacles. "Mm-mmh, ugh, uh, ah!" his face was buried in the tuft of white hair on his chest, his best attempt at disappearing, unfortunately.

The creature was indeed trying insistently to remove its appendage, and to its surprise, finding it completely lodged in place, being held by unbelievably powerful sphincter muscles. The Ultimate Lifeform was completely unaware just how tense his entire body was; it seemed to be his defense mechanism for dealing with his shock and fear. The voices of the observers and Gerald fell to deaf ears, and he willed for Maria to come and fix everything. She's always been good at that; making everything better and handling all sorts of situations well.

Gerald Robotnik stood right by the window, speaking urgently into the microphone that transmitted into the room where his ultimate creation stood, being violated by a monster that was supposed to battle the hedgehog. This was ridiculous. Shadow didn't even react to his instructions, indicating that he was in a state of absolute fear or shock. "Sir, if I may suggest, please only take it as a suggestion, but Shadow is very close to your granddaughter am I correct? She would be able to help him, if only just emotionally..." As the assisting scientist finished his sentence, he cowered a bit, expecting Gerald to bite back an angry response for the mentioning that his dear granddaughter become involved in this.

The Ultimate Lifeform's creator pondered the notion of Maria speaking to the frightened hedgehog. The only problem is having her see such an explicit act, and what the repercussions on her pure and innocent mind would be. But he knew enough about her to be sure that she would do anything for someone she cares about. Despite not wanting his granddaughter seeing such a vile creature defile his creation and her best friend, this was an incredibly dire situation and there wasn't much left concerning his options to fix this that didn't involve someone entering the room...

"MARIA! Report to my laboratories right now! Cease whatever you are doing, this concerns the safety of my creation!" Maria flinched violently at the sudden voice, never having heard her grandfather sound so frantic and stressed. Something was wrong with Shadow? She couldn't even bear to think about what it could be. She dropped the basket of laundry she was carrying on the ground and ran.

Maria, anxious and out of breath, skidded to a halt at the entrance of her grandpa's labs, not only because she was completely out of breath, but scientists were swarming everywhere and it was perplexing. She continued running down the hall where she'd been escorting her best friend through only about an hour and a half prior. When she finally made it to the windows, she still had absolutely no clue what was going on, of course due to the amount of people standing there babbling and gawking at who knows what. The blonde girl spotted her grandfather, who was hurriedly barking into a microphone, and rushed over.

"Please tell me the situation! What's happened to Shadow?! I need to see him, where is he?!" She pleaded. "It is what is currently happening to him now. Please if you will, he is still in the room he was to be tested in, speak to him, soothe his hysteria." Robotnik handed her his microphone. She snatched it out of his hand and began fretting. "Shadow I don't know what's happening but please relax, I'm here for you! You can get through whatever it is and you'll be okay!" Her voice cracked quite a bit as she couldn't hold back her distressed tears, but she didn't care.

Shadow's head instantly snapped up, tears freeing themselves from his eyes from the rapid action and a fiery gaze set in them. Could she not see him where she was? He assumed that she was with his creator, whom could see him quite clearly, to his dismay. But perhaps it was with the amount of people already watching him in his predicament, an interesting sight to see, and her short stature in comparison that shielded her view. It was better that way. He couldn't even imagine how she'd think of him were she to see him being befouled by a deranged, slimy monster.

Unfortunately he couldn't relax. Not until the creature's tentacle seated deep within his rump withdrew from inside him. It still continued to pull, yet hadn't even come out an inch. Maria could definitely hear his erotic noises, and he couldn't even think about what she might be assuming; only hoping that she mistook it for something like an injury.

She could indeed hear the sounds from inside the room, accompanied with some annoyed growls and grunts from the monster who'd been trying to remove it's appendage from Shadow, the hedgehog not even realizing that it won't come out until he relaxes. Was that her best friend in pain in there? Why wasn't anyone doing anything? Was she called to encourage him to win the fight? Suddenly, two scientists shifted and she finally caught the view of what everyone had been blocking; but was she mistaken? She quickly strode forward, much to the protest of her grandpa whom only further piqued her curiosity, and gasped at the sight before her.

The most heartbreaking and horrifying scene was in front of her: Shadow with his limbs held in place by slimy tentacles, his face a deep shade of red, his head lowered down and a waterfall of tears cascading down his face into a large puddle on the floor. At her angle, she couldn't see the biggest horror, thus being slightly confused at the back-and-forth actions of the hedgehog's restrained body. She was going to get him out of this predicament. He means so much to her and cannot stand the rare sight of her dear friend crying helplessly.

She weaved her way between and under the legs of Gerald's subordinates unnoticed, her goal being the security activation area. She disengaged the locked door and ran at breakneck speed, ignoring the raging of her grandfather. She flew through the door and immediately past the monster, to where Shadow was and stood in front of him. His face depicted utter shock and horror at her appearance within the room, her being the last person he wanted witnessing him as he was. He lowered his head once again and closed his eyes, his anxiety and apprehension for her reaction making him contract his muscles even more.

As she had entered the room, she'd most definitely seen the particular tentacle embedded within her friend and was furious that he had to deal with this while being stared at like a sideshow attraction. "I'm so sorry that this has happened to you, I can't believe my terrible grandfather." She took his muzzle in her hands and lifted his head up, stroking the sides of it gently and gazing into his fiery ruby eyes that were laced with torment among many other emotions. She stroked the top of his head and rubbed behind his ears as she spoke, "relax, Shadow, calm down. You're going to get through this and you'll be okay, but you need to do as I say." The ebony hedgehog instantly felt relief from her magic touch and gentle voice, all of his pain and feeling ebbing away, leaving him contentedly numb. His eyes drifted shut as his muscles sighed in relief, finally gaining repose. Then, a disgustingly slow squishing noise was heard by the two friends as the tentacle finally began to withdraw from the striped hedgehog's rear end. Completely caught off guard, Shadow was unable to hold his voice back. "Ahn...!" he moaned, trembling in Maria's hold. His eyes widened and he lowered his head once again, wanting to jump out of the ARK from embarrassment. Maria was right there too! But all she did was pull him closer to her and continue rubbing his ears and head, whispering that everything was going to be alright. The monster was immediately detained by the synthetic security system that had been activated when Maria had entered the room. The two began a slow walk out of the room, Maria holding most of Shadow's weight as he was completely exhausted, mentally and physically. They both pointedly ignored Gerald's profuse apologies and wishes to speak with the two immediately, both mentally agreeing that they'd rather go to sleep. His tail pointed down in shame along with his head as they walked by Gerald's subordinates, who watched the retreating pair with unmasked curiosity. Maria glared at them all, tilted her best friend's head up and gave him a heartfelt smile, which he returned thankfully.


End file.
